


Indelible

by ForxGood



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 07:45:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9225419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForxGood/pseuds/ForxGood
Summary: People often ask how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious. How the words inscribed on their wrist could be both damning and brilliant.Some surrender themselves to it completely. Some ignore it altogether. Some spend their entire lives searching.But the ink with which our lives are inscribed is indelible, and sooner or later, these black marks catch up to you. Sometimes even in the most unexpected of places...





	

**Author's Note:**

> The mandatory 'your soulmate's first words to you are inscribed on your wrist' AU. Essentially follows the movie until Erin and Holtzmann's first meeting, and slightly diverges from there. Special thanks to Sammi (freakin-faraday-cage on Tumblr) for being the Holtzmann brain behind this.

In a world where soulmate tattoos appeared on everyone’s wrist on their 15th birthday (and why it was 15, nobody knew), Erin Gilbert had always  _hated_  hers. She could only imagine the kind of sleazy, disgusting, entitled, probably drunken piece of garbage that would think the line ‘Come here often?’ would get  _anyone_  to sleep with him.

And that was meant to be her soulmate?

No thank you. Erin would much rather just explore the dating scene best she could. After all, while marrying your soulmate was encouraged, it wasn’t mandatory. There were plenty of people who wanted nothing to do with their soulmates who still had happy, functional relationships. Erin could be one of them. She had mentioned as much to Abby, who seemed to agree with her.

So she had just gone on with her life. She had written a book with her best friend. She had left her best friend in favour of a more respectable career. She had gone to Princeton, had ended up at Columbia, was up for tenure…

And was now standing in the Higgins lab, fuming as Abby left her in favour of some soup crisis. A  _soup_  crisis. As if that was somehow more important than Erin’s entire reputation, a reputation she had fought  _so_  hard for!

Her white-hot rage quickly faded, however, when she heard something that made her blood run absolutely cold.

 

_'Come here often?'_

 

Under normal circumstances, Erin would have a witty, original reply ready. A reply that would immediately determine whether or not the sleazebag in question was indeed her soulmate. Something like ‘tell me the square root of Pi and I’ll answer that’. But she hadn’t expected to hear this here. And she hadn’t expected the voice to say it to her to belong to a woman. And she  _definitely_  hadn’t expected that voice to sound as attractive as it did.

So instead of a witty line, or a snappy comeback, or an unrelated quote just to check, all Erin could do was stammer out a weak “Hello, I’m sorry, who are you?” as she turned around to the source of those three words.

What she saw was a young, blonde woman, with a flirtatious smile and the bluest eyes Erin had ever seen, even as she saw the blonde’s mouth drop open in recognition.

Well. That was that, then.

Erin could really only stare as the blonde abruptly stood from her chair and crossed the room, removing her globe to reveal another glove. “Holtzmann.” The blonde shook her hand. “Virgo. Avid skier. Gluten full.” A small chuckle. “And 100% jazzed to meet  _you_.”

Erin could only stare in shock, her mouth slightly agape as she quietly shook the other woman’s hand. Holtzmann. Her  _soulmate_. She had come here to get a book taken down and she had met her  _soulmate_. Wasn’t that just the craziest thing to ever happen to Erin Gilbert.

“Erin…” She stammered out, still looking at Holtzmann with an absolutely stunned expression. She had to admit, the other woman looked quite beautiful. Not even just in an eccentric sort of way, but honest to god beautiful. Her piercing blue eyes were something Erin could easily see herself getting lost in, her dimpled smile was truly adorable, and while the outfit looked like it had been pulled from the nearest thrift store, the blonde  _definitely_  made it work. In fact, she didn’t just make it work; even Erin had to admit it looked  _good_.

Her cheeks flushed when Holtzmann sniffed her hand - and yes that  _had_  just happened - and Erin had almost completely forgotten why she had been here in the first place. Her hand still in Holtzmann’s, Erin didn’t want to let go, finally sort of understanding why people made much a big deal out of the whole soulmate thing. There was a certain force drawing her to Holtzmann, like the pull between two magnets. She had never experienced anything like it, but it was enough for her to know that she might want to rethink her initial stance on dating her soulmate.

“You smell like coconut.” Holtzmann was absolutely beaming at the flushed face of the woman in front of her. And it was her.  _Her soulmate_. (And oh, thank god it was a her). She had been surprised how easily the three words had rolled off her tongue, how quickly. She hadn’t even thought about it. It was almost as if her mind was on autopilot. The blonde wasn’t even sure if she had believed in the whole mumbo jumbo soulmate nonsense before today.

When her own mark appeared on her skin on her 15th birthday, she had assumed her foster brother had done it in her sleep to continue being the pick he always was. She thought it was a myth like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny.

She took in a hissing breath through her teeth. “Always thought you’d be taller.” Holtzmann admitted. “And I thought it would be more of a failed spy mission type of situation, but, this will do.” She grinned.

Erin was about to reply to that, her hand still in Holtzmann’s, when another voice interrupted them.

“Don’t get too close to her, Holtzmann–” Abby warned as she trudged back in from her phone call, returning Erin back to reality. She immediately let go of Holtzmann’s hand to smooth out her skirt, returning her attention to her former best friend instead. She had come here for a reason, and that reason  _hadn’t_  been meeting her soulmate. And if she knew Abby at all, and knew the way she could hold grudges, she doubted the woman would be very pleased to learn Erin had found her soulmate in her co-worker.

She had been about to assure Abby she meant no harm, when Holtzmann beat her to it.

“Womp womp. Too late.” The engineer grinned wickedly at her lab partner as she turned her arm over to expose her wrist. There, scrawled across her skin were the words: ‘Hello, I’m sorry, who are you?’

So it was true, then. Erin felt her heart skip a beat, casting an apologetic glance at Abby as she nervously showed off her own soulmate mark. A mark she knew Abby had seen before, but she knew Holtzmann hadn’t. She could feel Abby staring at her, glancing from her wrist to Holtzmann’s, realization slowly setting in. “Abby…” She began, pulling down the sleeve of her shirt again. “I swear I didn’t know-”

“Well, it’s a good thing you used to tell me you had no plans in dating your soulmate, then.” Abby snapped at her, causing Erin’s heart to sink. 

 _No_. Well, yes, that had been what she’d said, but people changed their minds. And Erin was definitely,  _definitely_  changing her mind. Before she could tell Holtzmann as much, though, the blonde spoke up, dashing the last of Erin’s hopes altogether.

“Oh…” Holtzmann felt her heart being shattered. “Oh, no. Yeah– get it.” She shimmer her shoulders trying to shake it off. “Ha–” Her laugh was low. “Don’t gotta date your soulmate, I’m familiar with the rules.” Her laugh turned more pathetic as her lips curled into her mouth as she looked back and forth between Abby and Erin. “Back to the drawing board on  _that_  one.” She looked embarrassed and she felt extremely small. The blonde probably made a huge fool of herself in front of Abby’s well dressed friend.

“I’m serious, Holtzmann.” Abby continued, having noticed her friend’s discomfort at the situation. “She’ll tell you to write a book and then she’ll squash your dreams.” Holtzmann knew her lab partner was just looking out for her – she had known Erin before all this, and she cared about Holtzmann – but that didn’t mean it hurt any less.

Guilt was eating Erin alive as she looked form Abby to Holtzmann, the pain undoubtedly evident on her face. She deserved it, probably. Every last bit of it. But it still hurt.

The downside of being chewed out by your former best friend; she knew  _exactly_  how to hit you where it hurt.

“Yes… I get it. Thank you.” She spoke in a clipped tone, trying to hide the pain in her voice.

Holtzmann placed a gentle hand on Abby’s shoulder, because she did want her to be okay, to feel better, but, this situation was almost too overwhelming for the anxiety that was taking over her mind. “I’m gonna– I’m gonna go through more E.V.Ps, ‘kay?” She didn’t wait for an answer as she turned on booted heels to disappear behind mountains of technology, Erin watching her as she left.

The physicist felt her heart sink even further at that reaction watching her soulmate - Holtzmann, her soulmate - all but run away from her. She turned to Abby, who stared at her with a look that screamed ‘I am only looking out for her best interests’, which in turn made Erin feel even worse.

Didn’t she even deserve a chance here?

Pushing that away, she argued with Abby for a while, at least trying not to raise her voice too much at the other woman. Abby was upset. Erin had been a right bitch to her in the past, and she supposed she deserved all of this and more. But Holtzmann didn’t deserve to be dragged into all of this, and if Abby wanted Erin out of her life again for good, then all she had to do was  _take the fucking book down._

“Erin, if you don’t believe in this stuff anymore, then  _why_  were you looking for the book?” 

The redhead groaned loudly. “Because a man came to see me  _at my work_  to tell me his building was haunted!”

Holtzmann’s eyes had drooped when they had started arguing. At this point, she had hidden herself behind a mound of sheet metal. She was hunched over, her head resting in her hand as she let out a silent curse up into the universe and grabbed a pen from the cluttered table to begin doodling mindlessly. It was just the phrase: ‘Hello, I’m sorry, who are you?’ over and over again. Holtzmann’s eyes widened once she was cognizant of what she had done and tossed her pen to the side. No, no, no– she needed to cut that Jack Torrence shit out instantly. What had gotten into her?

Letting out a defeated sigh, she tried to listen in on the argument instead. She wasn’t deaf, and was able to pick out bits and pieces of the spat between the two former friends, hoping to learn a little more about her soulmate.

So the book had ruined Erin’s chances for tenure? Yeah… that would probably put a stick up Holtzmann’s ass, too. Still, she should have just explained to Abby why she had left. The quarreling friends were both in their right, and both completely wrong- but, it seemed they were both too stubborn to admit that. Friendship was more important than tenure. But, tenure was more important than a lack of job security. The engineer understood– she had almost been hired by CERN, but a lab incident ruined all of that.

Shit happened.

But the mention of the Aldrigdge mansion had been enough to sort of shut Abby up. She immediately called Holtzmann back over - and god, Erin’s heart skipped a beat and she could  _feel_  herself staring again - prompting her to go out and actually hunt for this imaginary ghost. And like the loyal puppy she was, Holtzmann came crawling out from her hiding spot the second Abby called her. Only this time she slightly hid herself behind Abby to keep from being too exposed and vulnerable.

However, she almost immediately began gearing up– it was a good way to keep her mind busy and off of the disappointment she had faced.

Somehow, Erin managed to get herself to tag along. Out of desperation to get the book taken down. Out of curiosity, to see the probably non-existent ghost. But also out of determination to talk to Holtzmann, to at least tell her that quote was taken  _completely_  out of context. She knew Abby was trying to protect her friend, and part of Erin knew she should probably respect that, but this was her  _soulmate_. She couldn’t just let the potential love of her life slip through her fingers over something she did over half a decade ago.

Not that they had a lot of time to talk there. Holtzmann’s stomach had twisted in knots the moment it had become clear Erin would be coming along, and she had ended up playing a small game of tag with the woman, her soulmate. She would point the video camera into Erin’s face, get pushed away by said woman and before the redhead could say anything more, and the blonde would turn on her heels and scuttle away, her feet dragging against the floor.

Holtzmann wouldn’t deny had been drawn to the other woman immediately. When she first laid eyes on Erin, she felt something tug at her heart and when she said those words; it was then she knew that the redhead was her soulmate. Not those snooty women  _and_ men that were asking who she was. A homeland security officer had asked ‘Hello, I’m sorry, who are you?’ once and Holtzmann had tried, just in case. He had been kind enough, but… it wasn’t  _this_. This instant attraction and warmth.

The moment she had learned of soulmates at such a young age, Holtzmann had wanted one. The idea alone was hopeful. Even though she thought it had been a joke or a trick, a young Jillian once dreamed of her soulmate finding her and saving her and taking her away from her own loneliness. It never happened. Her soulmate never came.

But here she was now. Standing strong in a tweed ensemble, hair perfectly brushed and groomed, even her heels coordinating with the rest of her get up.

Erin. Erin Gilbert, particle physicist with a PHD from MIT. Abby’s writing partner from years ago. This must have been the figurative ghost Abby had been talking about. Holtzman had heard terrible things.

Still, there were two sides to every story. The blonde loved Abby, she did, but, she wondered how many good things she had left out. Abby was mad, she was hurt. And while the engineer couldn’t blame her, she wondered what Erin’s side was to all of this. She didn’t like this tension between the two friends (former friends. Frienemies…?), and the brunette was always a bit irrational when she was upset.

But seeing Erin’s pristine ensemble, Holtzmann felt like a slob. Her soulmate deserved so much better than her marinara and paint stained coveralls, which could very well explain Erin’s apparent rethoric. After all the dates she had been on trying to find her soulmate, after all the breakups and fights and tears, she finally found her soulmate– and, joke’s on Holtzmann, Erin wanted nothing to do with her.

Fun times.

But soon, Casper the not so friendly ghost had thrown her cookies all over Erin and the fact that they had, indeed, documented a ghost was enough to distract Holtzmann from all of her worries and doubts.

And when Erin was fired? Fuck, she felt somewhat responsible, but maybe this would mean that the now former professor would walk away meaning Holtzmann wouldn’t be tormented by her presence.

Unfortunately for Holtzmann, the universe continued to shit on her. The blonde was fired herself, and while she was thrilled Abby and her friend were on good terms again, the three of them decided to rent a space above their usual restaurant of choice.  _Great_. Now she was trapped with a woman that didn’t want to be her soulmate.

Until now, she had managed to avoid being alone with Erin – She didn’t want to handle the pain of the obvious rejection that was still to come – but not even she could avoid the inevitable forever. When Abby had left on another ‘wonton hunt’, Holtzmann had been fully prepared to join her, but Erin’s voice had stopped her before she could.

“Wait!”

By the time Jillian had turned back around, Abby was already gone, and she was officially out of excuses. So with a heavy heart, she turned back to Erin, who was fidgeting in the middle of the room, looking more than a little nervous.

“I just… I…”  _Woman up, Gilbert_. “I want to talk to you. About something.”

“Uh, yeah, wassup?”

Holtzmann wasn’t entirely sure what this conversation was about. But, now that Abby and Erin were friends again, the redhead was probably going to ask the engineer to leave. Or something. It made sense. Who would want an awkward third wheel? So, she braced herself, fully prepared to leave the picture. The sad part is- if Abby had wanted it to be this way, she would leave.

“I, ummm…” Erin had hoped to get a moment alone with Holtzmann much sooner than this, but it seemed Dr Jillian Holtzmann had no intention of being left alone in a room with Erin. Which, the redhead had to admit, kind of hurt, but wasn’t entirely unexpected. If anything, it just meant she was an absolute idiot for feeling even remotely nervous about this. It was obvious Holtzmann had been avoiding her, thereby making it clear she was not even  _remotely_  interested in Erin.

At all.

But she still felt the need to explain herself. Because she was selfish, and if Holtz didn’t want to date her she at least wanted to try and be her friend. Which meant she had to just ignore her own irrational anxieties for a bit and  _talk_  to Holtzmann. At this point, she was just glad that she didn’t have to resort to asking Abby to pass on the message instead.

“It’s about what Abby said. That day.” She began, still looking awfully nervous. “It was… She took that line out of context. I mean, I did say that. A long time ago. When I thought-” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter what I thought. What matters is that she was wrong.  _Is_  wrong. And I’m not trying to put you on the spot, and I’m not expecting anything here, but… Well… If you wanted to… Not that you would, probably. I mean, you’ve been avoiding me a  _lot_  and I do kind of get the message… But if you ever wanted to, I wouldn’t entirely be opposed to… You know… Maybe going out on a date. If you wanted to. Which you probably don’t so it doesn’t matter but I felt like I needed to say that.” She exhaled, barely realizing she had begun trembling a little. She did feel better now that she’d gotten that all out in the open though, looking at Holtzmann with a small smile on her face.

For a moment, Holtzmann was having a hard time following Erin’s word vomit, but eventually the words finally sunk in- and then she suddenly felt guilty for thinking Erin wanted nothing to do with her. “Abby has been known to exaggerate sometimes.” Her voice was low and quiet. “She can be downright dramatic.”

Erin could only stare at Holtzmann as she spoke, the blonde sounding dejected - almost sad, even. Erin could almost feel her heart breaking again. Which was stupid, because she had already established beforehand that Holtzmann wasn’t interested. But before she could voice those thoughts, telling Holtzmann that ‘it was okay, she _understood_ , the blonde didn’t have to let her down easy’, the engineer spoke again.

“Erin… you do know why I was avoiding you right?” She asked. “Because it hurt too much to be around you because I thought that you—” Her eyebrows pulled together. “I would  _love_  to go on a date with you.”

The physicist’s eyes lit up at that. Holtzmann wanted to go on a date with her. Holtzmann was interested. Holtzmann at least wanted to give her a chance. And just like that, Erin felt a surge of relief course through her system.

As if nothing had ever happened, Holtzmann swooped behind her table and hit play on her cassette player, confusing Erin beyond measure. Rhythm of the Night filled the makeshift lab and the crazy engineer began dancing and lip synching for the redhead. That was Holtzmann’s way of saying ‘sorry’ and ‘we’re okay’ without actually having to say it – not that Erin understood any of that.

“Oh… So we’re dancing now.” Despite the oddity of it all, Erin felt the corners of her mouth quirk up into a smile. Holtzmann was still a little crazy, and a little dorky, and still somehow made it all look almost sinfully attractive, and if Erin was honest she couldn’t get enough of it. 

She even tried dancing along a little, albeit somewhat awkwardly, before realizing Holtzmann had moved on to grab a set of blowtorches, oddly similar to the one she’d seen on the day they met. “Let’s stay safe though!” Erin urged, but to no avail. The blonde just grinned at her, twirling the fire-hazards around like it was nothing. And oh god, she had fallen head over heels in love with a walking talking fire hazard (and where had that  _love_  thing even come from anyway?)

Holtzmann was so elated that she couldn’t even put it into words. So, when her words failed her, she danced. She was so lost in her own happy thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed that she had caught a moving box on fire. Finally, after Erin had called her name multiple time, the engineer made her way to the fire extinguisher. Still, she wasn’t in any real hurry as she danced with the canister.

When she doused the fire, she kept eye contact with Erin and when the song had ended, she disappeared underneath the table for dramatic effect. Holtzmann popped back up and turned off her music player. “Sorry.” She panted, slight out if breath, though, a grin was plastered on her face. “Sometimes ya gotta Debarge it out.”

Erin, despite her minor freakout about Holtzmann burning down their new office space, found herself smiling at the blonde’s antics, even giggling at some points as Holtz was acting especially crazy. The blonde engineer might be a brilliant mind with killer moves, but she was also an incredible dork, and Erin truly adored her for it.

“It’s fine.” Erin smiled at her, still slowly unpacking some of the boxes as she looked at Holtzmann. She was pretty sure she was just stacking up items with no purpose now, her eyes never having left the blonde engineer, but she didn’t really care. “I liked it, actually.”

The  _I like you_ , went unsaid, Erin instead placing down one of the items to walk around the table over to Holtzmann. “It was charming, in a way.”

“My charm is irresistible, you didn’t stand a chance.”

Erin laughed at that, shaking her head as she took a few more steps towards Holtzmann, an adoring smile on her face. “I really didn’t.”

“’s good thing you liked it, because there will be multiple dance parties. You mark my words.” God, Holtzmann was so happy to be back to her goody, confident self. Now that certain things were cleared up, the blonde felt much more at ease. “The way my hair bounces when I get jiggy with it, chicks dig that man.” She sent the redhead a slow wink.

Erin felt her heart skip a beat at the wink that was sent her way.  _God_ , she was beautiful. Stunning, and attractive, and gorgeous, and  _brilliantly_  beautiful. She had never quite felt so attracted to someone as she did to Jillian Holtzmann, and there was nothing she had been able to do about it. 

She had been falling for her since she first laid eyes on her, immediately captured by piercing blue eyes and a dimpled smile.

Holtzmann leaned back against her workbench, her arms crossing with such bravado. She couldn’t stop herself as her eyes wandered over Erin’s features. She really was stunning, such a gorgeous woman… But when Erin began walking towards her and the engineer could feel her knees start shake as her heart threatened to leap out of her chest. “Dance parties I Like.” She tried to continue speaking, but immediately realized her flub, cursing at herself for it. In her defense, she had grown very distracted. “Good sentence.”

“I’ve heard worse sentences.” Erin smiled. Feeling Holtzmann stare at her, she began to feel a little more self-conscious, moving to nervously smooth out her skirt and tug at her sleeves. She knew she wasn’t the most attractive person, and Holtzmann probably thought (or, hoped) she would have looked better, but there was not much to be done about that now. Instead, all she could do was laugh at the blonde engineer flubbing up her sentences.

_Adorable._

“And I like the sound of that.”

The proximity was slowly killing the engineer. Erin was close enough now for Holtzmann to be caressed by the coconut scent. Was it her shampoo, a lotion? She wasn’t sure, but the smell was intoxicating. She wanted to be blanketed by the scent always. It was much more pleasant than what she probably smelled like. Rust and sweat. And ionic discharge most likely.

With every step Erin took towards her, Jillian stood up straight and felt herself leaning forward. The older woman was absolutely magnetic. She let out a surprised breath over just how easily she had fallen for this woman.

“You know…” Her words were slowing down as her eyes flickered to Erin’s lips. “It’s scientifically proven that…” She had never felt a pull like this. Was this part of the soulmate package? Because she was instantly drawn. “Dancing helps reduce stress.”

And with that, she took a chance a closed the distance between them, capturing Erin’s lips with her own. Erin immediately melted into the kiss, her arms coming to rest on Holtzmann’s shoulders as she leaned in closer. She had never experienced a kiss like this. It was the kind of kiss that belonged in crappy romance novels, or in romcom movies, or in fairy tales. It was fireworks and coming home and the promise of forever all in one, and Erin could not get enough of it. Eventually, though, the need for air became too great, and she broke away, her forehead resting against Holtzmann’s as she tried to catch her breath, physically unable to stop smiling.

They stood there for a while, just taking it all in, letting the situation sink in. The fact that Holtzmann seemed to be as happy as Erin was certainly calmed any leftover anxiety she had still been feeling. With Holtzmann -  _her soulmate_ , and wow, was she ever going to get tired of that? - standing this close to her, her hands on her waist and a dazzling smile on her lips, Erin felt like she could do anything.

(Having said that, words still seemed like a difficult task for the physicist).

“Wow…” She eventually managed, still smiling in a way that she wouldn’t be able to control even if she tried. “I can’t believe my soulmate is a brilliant engineer, drop-dead gorgeous, and the best kisser in the world.” She spoke breathlessly, the words escaping her lips before she even had a chance for her brain-to-mouth filter to work again.

A deep blush had set into Holtzmann’s face at Erin’s words, the blonde looking more than a little flustered as she stared at her soulmate. “Funny. If you look in my Senior Yearbook I’m actually listed as ‘Best Kisser’.” That was a joke, a poor joke– but, damn, she was still reeling over this experience.   

“I would have guessed ‘class clown’, actually.” Erin giggled - actually  _giggled_  - as she leaned in to Holtzmann’s touch. She felt like she was riding on at least 7 different kinds of highs, her mind still reeling from that kiss. From having a soulmate in general, even. A soulmate who  _liked her back._ Which, really, had surprised her more than she cared to admit.

Her own hands were still resting on Holtz’s shoulders, one coming up to lightly brush her fingertips over the engineer’s jaw, as if she still couldn’t believe this was happening. As if she still couldn’t believe any of this was actually real. She had never felt this attracted to anyone in her entire life, had never felt this much of a connection to someone. She wondered if Holtzmann felt it too.

She didn’t dare to ask.

The blonde’s hands rested innocently on Erin’s waist, making sure not to wander. The engineer was still absolutely breathless, her forehead pressed against the other woman’s. She let out a happy laughter as she smiled at the other woman, words completely escaping her.  

Her lips still parted, the engineer reached up to run the pads of her fingers against soft, red hair. Her touches trailed to rest on the apple of Erin’s cheek. “I have been waiting so long for you.” She finally found her voice again, completely enamoured by the woman in front of her. And seeing the light blush spread across the other woman’s cheeks, she felt herself smiling even more, the sight even more magical than she could have dreamed.

“Well, you don’t have to wait anymore…” Erin replied, looking into Holtzmann’s eyes with an expression that spoke of nothing but adoration. “I mean… If you want me, that is.”

Holtzmann believed in courting a woman. She respected woman and admired their beauty. She believed in first dates and hand holding. Cuddling and connecting over common interests. She believed in first kisses and walking her dates to the door to make sure they got inside safe in this terrifying world. She believed in steps and she skipped all of them because she felt so connected to Erin. It was like nothing applied anymore. She didn’t need to get to know Erin, she felt as if she had known the redhead her entire life. 

And judging by the way the redhead was speaking, Erin felt the same way.

(Was this how the marks worked? Because, honestly, she had never felt so drawn to anyone in her life until now.)

She lightly shook her head, words absolutely failing her in this moment as she looked at Erin. Erin Gilbert, her soulmate, who still seemed so uncertain. Usually, when Holtzmann was silent, it was to take in her surroundings, to take inventory on who was around her so she could make jokes based on her audience. Her mind was always whirring, always stirring some ornery thought. It was rare for her to be rendered absolutely speechless, but Erin seemed to manage it time and time again.

Instead, she decided to let her actions speak for her, pulling Erin in for another kiss. Much to her delight, Erin pressed closer, soft hands caressing her own shoulders, her lips moving rhythmically and gently against her soulmate’s, seemingly understanding the message.

As if there had even been the slightest chance Holtzmann wouldn’t want her. As if Holtzmann hadn’t wanted Erin since the moment she saw her. As if Erin didn’t make her world brighter, more vibrant and beautiful, with each passing moment.

As they stood there, wrapped in each other’s embrace, Holtzmann figured it would probably still take a while for Erin to fully understand just how much she meant to the engineer. Maybe the insecure woman in front of her never would. But damn if Holtzmann wasn’t looking forward to trying to prove her feelings to her for the rest of her life, proving her soulmate she was deserving of her love, now and forever.

**Author's Note:**

> The usual 'come love me on social media because I am a desperate soul in need for human interaction' plug.  
> Twitter: @forxgood, writing Tumblr: scientificxmethod, curiouscat: ForxGood


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